One aspect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) that has confounded researchers is that identical anatomical placement of electrodes in different patients produces different results. Identical contact locations theoretically should produce identical or at least similar results. However, in at least DBS of the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) for treatment of treatment resistant depression (TRD), anatomically identical placements of contacts has yielded different results as detailed in provisional applications 61/913,349 and 61/954,638.
Clinical trials of DBS have demonstrated significant therapeutic benefits for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, conventional approaches have struggled with identifying the precise therapeutic mechanisms, optimal stimulation targets, or specific axonal pathways for an individual patient. While human brains are remarkably alike at the gross anatomical level, human brains may exhibit different network connectivity between regions in response to DBS. For example, even though gross anatomy may be similar, a common anatomical location may not coincide with a hub location for various white matter bundles and thus theoretically identical DBS may produce different results.